The present invention generally relates to network data transmission, and more particularly relates to byte caching in wireless communication networks.
A key problem with communication via mobile networks is the rapid increase of data traffic. The density of mobile computing platforms is increasing at an exponential rate. Mobile computing platforms include traditional platforms such as phones, tablets and mobile broadband enabled laptops but increasingly also mobile data enabled devices, such as GPS systems, cars, even mobile medical equipment. This exponential increase brings significant new challenges for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) as data becomes the majority of the content they deliver. Specifically although additional base stations are fairly easy to deploy to increase the available aggregate “air interface” bandwidth, the connections back from the base stations to the radio network controller (RNC), typically implemented as microwave links, are bandwidth constrained. Upgrading these connections to fiber optic connections is very expensive. Similarly increasing the available bandwidth in the RNC and core network is expensive as well.